Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a message for the cast of Glee this afternoon: Welcome to Manhattan! At least, that’s the jist of what I think was said at this afternoon’s press conference, held outside the same place Wicked calls home on Broadway.

To be honest, I didn’t hear much between the poor sound at the podium and the chattering foreigners who were arguing with the press over a prime photo-taking position in the crowd. Not that one had to hear much to get the point: Glee’s in Manhattan filming their season finale, and, like everything else, the city wanted to bring as much attention to it as possible. The surprise? It was a lot of (welcomed?) hoopla – even for the Glee team.

“We’ve filmed in L.A. for two years, and we’ve never met the mayor there,” said exec producer Dante Di Loreto, gesturing to Bloomberg. “We’ve been in New York six hours.” (Simple solution, Glee: Stay here in New York.)

The 15-minute howdy was otherwise uneventful. Cast members (which included most of the boys, minus Chris Colfer and Matthew Morrison) were in attendance for photo ops, and Heather Morris was the sole female cast member present.

Other notable bits: Darren Criss wore a “Dalton” sweatshirt. The two girls behind me at Starbucks after the event were delusional. (“He smiled at me.” “He totally remembered you.” “Well, I have a very recognizable face.”) And considering the amount of people in blue on hand, I’d say the NYPD is more than ready for Glee fever. (Okay, it also could have been for the mayor…)